Australia overcame a crushing double injury setback to edge out battling Wales 21-18 and take the World Cup's bronze medal prize.

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The Wallabies lost fly-half Quade Cooper and full-back Kurtley Beale inside 20 minutes at Eden Park. Cooper could face six months out with suspected knee ligament damage, while Beale appeared to suffer a recurrence of hamstring trouble that sidelined him for last weekend's semi-final defeat against tournament favourites New Zealand.

But they still had enough in the tank to deny Wales a best World Cup finish since they beat Australia to take third place 24 years ago.

Wing Shane Williams marked his final World Cup appearance with a try - albeit a lucky one when a blatant forward pass was missed - and full-back Leigh Halfpenny also touched down.

James Hook and Stephen Jones kicked a penalty apiece, with Jones also converting Halfpenny's score, but the third-place finish Wales coveted eluded them.

Australia manufactured tries by centre Berrick Barnes and number eight Ben McCalman, while Barnes also dropped a goal and wing James O'Connor kicked eight points.

They will return home on Saturday after losing three of their seven World Cup games - by a combined total of five points - but Wales are guaranteed to be a top-four seed for the 2015 tournament hosted by England.

In truth, it was probably a game too far for coach Warren Gatland's heroes as they looked flat throughout much of an error-strewn contest

But they can take so much out of the competition prior to facing Australia in Cardiff on December 3 and then starting a Six Nations campaign that will probably see them installed as title favourites.